Breaking Barriers
by bureas
Summary: A HG/SS Nuzlocke. Ashurii is one of those kids who looks like a delinquent,acts like a delinquent, but isn't one. Having "nothing better to do", she decides to accept the offer of Professor Oak and go on a Pokemon Journey. Maybe SilverxOC
1. Chapter 1

(_So, there's this writer on here who is one of the best writers I've ever had the luck to find, and her user here is Cantarella of Odile. Remember when I first came to Fanfiction and I said a writer from here was the first to inspire me to create an account? Yes, that was her, and I regret nothing by admitting such a thing. Anyway, let's say she inspired me again, so I'm writing my own Nuzlocke! You guys should read hers too! Anywho, here we go... /Hopes it will beat least some what good/ And that ugly title...Definately temporary till I find something better. UGH.)_

**What A Nice Start**

"-And the purrloin is safely recovering now. In other news, more words of the so called 'activist group' that call themselves Team Plasma are continuing to spread. More and more people are starting to heed the words they speak and release their pokemon. Apparently it is for pokemon liberation, but is that really it? What do you all think of this? Any info pertaining to these people is-"

I killed the volume of my laptop with a tap of my finger after I gave a scoff. My cheek was resting on my left knee that was propped up while the other laid comfortably straight. The light from the screen reflected in my eyes as I stared down at it, watching the newswoman continue to speak her unheard words. Tilting my head to the side, I shut it completely off and snapped it closed.

"Too bad we all already know they're just as much of a terrorist group as all the groups before them." I thought out loud, mocking the woman's words beforehand. I never understood the whole 'terrorist group' thing. Some psycho maniac creates a team of criminals for the most selfish reason imaginable...Only to be crushed and disbanded by some random trainer kid. I couldn't help but wonder what 'random trainer kid' would be the one to take down those guys.

After a few minutes of silence, I heard hollow knocking downstairs. Hopping off my bed and onto the wooden floor in an oddly happy manner, I walked out of my room and headed downstairs via sliding down the railing. Thank Arceus my mom wasn't home or she'd complain to me (again) for doing it. She said I was too much like my brother. I always considered it a compliment anyway.

I landed square on my feet at the bottom of the staircase and motioned 'safe' with my arms before walking up to the door, sighing, and opening it.

Standing in front of me was a guy who looked about eighteen. He had sandy tan ruffled hair hiding under a dirty orange beanie hat, a vest of the same dirty color over a grey long sleeve shirt, baggy jeans, muddy brown boots, and dull green eyes. My facial expression grew blank from the cheerful one it once had as I stared at him.

He popped his bubblegum, staring back with the same look. "Little Miss Blair." he spoke in monotone, one arm lazily holding a box under his armpit.

"First name, numnuts. First name. Remember that." I corrected.

He scowled angrily. "Shut the hell up! Arceus, you're just like your annoying brother!"

"Why are you getting mad? You don't want me to call you 'Shevel', do you? No, of course not, that sounds incredibly wierd. So if you don't call me by my last name, I won't call you by yours."

He grew silent at my comment, his eyes closing as his right eyebrow twitched repeatedly in irritation. Yea, you see, I have a knack for making people mad. Or as they put it: pissing them off. Hey, at least you can't say I wouldn't be good at breaking the ice in a conversation.

My eyes drifted back to the box under his arm. It was just your average brown delivery box and all that. That's not what grabbed my attention. What DID grab my attention happened to be the stamp that indication where it was sent from, and here's a hint: not from Johto.

"That package for me or what?" I asked, leaning against the doorway.

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Yes, it's for you, Ashurii. Just sign this piece of paper saying you got it and whatnot so I can give it to you and leave."

I grinned as he handed me the clipboard and skimmed over the words. "So you're still stuck in this dead end package delivery boy job, eh Eric?" I tsked at him as I shook my head in disappointment. "How sad. You should go to college, you know; get yourself a degree in something. You never know, you might be the next gym leader in some region! Preferably a region other than here where no one knows you."

Eric snatched the clipboard out of my hands as soon as my pen lifted off the paper and shoved me the box. "That mouth of yours is going to get you brutally mauled, Ashurii, and I'm going to laugh my **ass** off when that happens." he snapped, then whirled around and stalked off.

"Love you too~!" I called after him.

When he didn't answer me, I shrugged and spun on my heels and walked back inside, closing the door with my foot behind me. As I did so, a fox-like pokemon with purple and red fur jumped up from behind the couch to peer at me with its amber eyes. My gaze locked with his as I walked over to set the box on the sitting cushions, not once looking away from him.

"What's that, Ashurii?" it spoke up finally, hopping up beside the box.

I beamed at him. The pokemon beside me was Zoro, my Zorua. It's a pokemon native to Unova, but Zoro was given to me by my brother, Black, who happens to be in that very region at the moment. Zorua's and Zoroark's alike have been known to speak to humans through telepathy, thus explaining why I ca actually hear him right now. Zoro's been with be for only about seven months, but we're like best friends, you can say. I talk to him more than I do anyone else in this boring little town, anyway.

"It's a package, obviously." I teased, then looked to read the words. "Black sent it from Castelia City, it seems."

"Nii-chan sent it? Open it, then!"

I'd never know why Zoro called him Nii-chan, nor would I ever ask. I just assumed Black was a nice 'older brother' to Zoro as well before he was given to me and left it at that.

I opened the box to see a pair of black boots with grey laces. I clapped as I kicked my slippers off and shoved them on. My brother knew my tastes so very well. Why was he even sending me these in the first place? My birthday was last week and I was now sixteen. OH YEA, it's my time to act adult...ish.

I posed, one foot on the couch while the other stayed on the floor as I looked off into the middle distance dramatically.

Zoro stared at me apathetically. "...What the hell are you doing, you moron." he said to me after a few moments of silence.

"Okay, let's go try 'em out~!" I cheered.

Zoro rolled his eyes as he jumped on my shoulder and I left the house, closing the door and locking it behind me.

I was greeted with the sight of the tiny place that was, in fact, my hometown: New Bark Town. As I walked along, some of the neighboring housewives stopped their chattering to stare at me with a mixture of disgust and surprise on their faces. Why did they ALWAYS look at me like that every time they saw me? I blinked and stopped walking to look down at my clothes. There wasn't anything wrong with them, was there? All I was wearing was my favorite black jacket I always wore, a long sleeve grey shirt that looked similar to Eric's, tan cargo shorts that stopped a little below my knees, and my brand new boots. I mused in deep thought. Nope, it couldn't be my clothes because I always dressed like this. Was it my hair, then? I ran my left hand through my jet black hair that stopped at my shoulders and had a side bang hanging over my right eye and shook my head.

"And yet, I still don't know why they-"

"Ashurii~!" shouted a cheerful male voice as someone hugged my from behind, causing me to yell in shock.

"Gah! What-Let me go!"

The person complied eventually and I spun around, coming face to face with my grinning friend Hibiki. "Hibiki!" I growled.

"Whatcha doing, Ashurii?" Hibiki questioned, that tuft of black hair hanging in his face bouncing as he tilted his head to the side and smiled.

"I was-"

"Ah, well, it doesn't really matter if you tell me. New boots, walking around, etcetera. They're from your brother, right? Say no more."

I nodded, rolling my eyes in the process. Once I did that, the front door of the pokemon lab I lived next to, run by the jittery and most probably schizophrenic Professor Elm, opened to reveal aforementioned professor. As his eyes laid on me, a smile appeared on his face and I couldn't help but cringe. Oh Arceus, that look...

"Ah, Miss Ashurii, I was just going to find you! Hibiki, bring her inside right away!" Professor Elm called out.

"Okay, Professor!" Hibiki agreed, grabbing me by my wrist and tugging me toward the building.

"What? No, traitor-!" I whined as he dragged me, Zoro cackling away from his place on my shoulder.

Hibiki pulled me inside the lab and closed the door behind him. I huffed and folded my arms childishly which made him laughed and pat my head.

"Come on, it's probably nothing bad." he reassured me as he ushered toward the back where Professor Elm was currently telling people to do this and that in a voice that was probably too quick for them to comprehend and shuffling through a mess of papers on his computer desk.

"...So...What do you need?" I asked slowly.

Professor Elm jumped with a jolt at the sound of my voice as I turned to face him, his hands squeezing tightly to the papers in his hands. "A-Ah, yes, that's right! Ashurii, I'm friends with a man known as Mr. Pokemon. He just emailed me saying he's made a new discovery of some sort. I-I'm busy as it is here, so do you think you could go see whatever he has?"

"How about you-"

Hibiki covered my mouth and smiled innocently. "She said she'd love to, Professor!" he answered for me.

"Wonderful..." Elm said with a sigh of relief as he turned to a table, then yelped in fear.

"Wha-What's wrong, sir?" spoke up one of the assistants with a worried stare.

He shook his head quickly, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "N-No, no, it's nothing. I'm fine. Anyway, Ashurii, I have three-"

I finally tore Hibiki's hand away to laugh. "Ohhhhh, haha, you think I need a pokemon better than Zoro to do such a simple task?"

"You tryin' to say I'm not good enough, you old schizoid?" Zoro barked angrily.

Professor Elm shook his head quickly. "Not at all! Ah, anyway, here's the directions, here you are!"

Hibiki accepted he piece of paper with a nod. I opened my mouth to speak once more, but didn't get a chance before Hibiki hauled me out just as quickly as I came. Once we were out, I shot an expectant glare, but he didn't flinch at all like most people (and sometimes pokemon) did. Instead, he folded his arms and practically glared right back.

"Oh, don't give me that look." he chided me. "You were acting like you were positively bored and wanted something to do, so I decided to help you out." he held his hand up, signaling it was not yet time for me to speak as he continued, "And yes, usually it's my job as Professor Elm's assistant to do such things, but starting today I'm going on my own pokemon journey instead."

My stare had grown apathetic by the time he was saying this, so he grinned and continued on some more, much to my annoyance.

"So I see you already have your backpack with you? Ah, it's the color black as usual..." he held out a little bag. "That's good! You're going to need it to carry these potions for Zoro!"

"Are you looking down on me, Echo?" Zoro demanded, baring his teeth.

Hibiki laughed lightly as he put the potions in my bag. "Now, why would I do that? All pokemon are weak in the beginning, you know that."

Zoro huffed and looked away.

My fluffy headed friend stepped back and took something out of his pocket, my PokeGear. He tossed it to me, which I caught after scrambling a little for it. I was, like, literally catching inept. Throwing was included free of charge, unfortunately...

"Your PokeGear came back today. You wanted it customized, right?"

"Does it got that insignia I wanted?" I asked, examining it.

He nodded. "Yes. It's on the back and it's also been made into the background screen."

"Perfect~." I chimed.

"You shouldn't wear so much black, Ashurii..." Hibiki mumbled, frowning. "I worry about you..."

I looked up at him and gave him an "are you serious?" look.

He cleared his throat. "Well, you should get a move on now, Ashurii. Professor Elm's phone number is already registered so he's there if you need him or vice versa."

"...How come you're helping me?"

Hibiki smiled that innocent smile once again. "I just want you to have fun, Ashurii; to have fun, experience some kind of adventure. That's what a good childhood friend usually does, right? Get going." he told me.

After eyeing him a bit, I nodded and headed off down the road. I could still his smile hitting my back, and somehow...It felt odd.

_**...**_

"Ha! That was too easy! And here I was worried I'd get hurt? I wish Echo was here so I could rub it in his face!" Zoro cheered in triumph as took our first steps into Cherrygrove City.

I snorted. "Oh, Zoro was scared?" I mocked him.

He flinched and looked up at me, obviously embarrassed. "What? No, of course not! The term is WARY, thank you!"

"Oh really~..."

"Yes, really!" he retorted, lifting his nose high up into the air as he walked briskly beside me.

"So you have no need for the pokemon center?" I questioned as we started walking past said center.

"Not at all!" Zoro answered as he reclaimed his place on my shoulder. "Besides, we got potions. We're good."

"Right. Even though we have a limited supply. Of course. Onto Route 30 then~."

As we walked past the Pokemart that was right beside the Pokemon Center, I stopped to see an old man that was incredibly agile for his age talking to a red haired guy that seemed completely uninterested in whatever he was prattling on about. He started to inch away, but it wasn't long before the old man noticed and grabbed him by the sleeve to drag him along some more.

I couldn't help but snicker as I watched the guy complain to the old man. "Hey, Zoro," I whispered, pointing to the two of them. "Check out the redhead being dragged."

"Aren't the young ones supposed to be strong?" Zoro said in a low voice, joining me in my little laughing fit.

"Hehe...Ahem, Alright..." I sighed, slowly recovering from my joke. "To Mr. Pokemon."

"Lead the way, princess!"

_**...**_

Giving a short summary of out little walk from Cherrygrove to Mr. Pokemon's house, it'd probably be something along the lines of the following: we met some dude when I walked into his house thinking it was Mr. Pokemon's, and he thought it was fate that we met so he gave me an apricorn box; we accidentally ran into the middle of a pokemon battle and almost got mauled by the very pokemon that were battling; we were given the correct directions to Mr. Pokemon's house by the trainers (quite rudely, I might add), and finally found ourselves standing on the doorstep of his house. The FIRST thing I'm going to do is give him a little lecture on why you shouldn't live so isolated from civilization no matter what kind of distance...

I gave a sigh of relief when I saw the mailbox I saw said 'Mr. Pokemon'. "About time we find his freaking house..." I growled, putting my hand on the handle.

"Let's hope it was worth it." Zoro added.

I looked at him as I started opening the door. "Well, Hibiki was pretty nice after all. Traveling and battling with you is pretty fun!" I said. "Hello there~? Mister-" I began, but the first person I saw when I walked inside definately wasn't some guy named Mr. Pokemon.

I saw a man with tannish hair with a little bit of grey showing in it sitting in a black leather chair. His current wardrobe consisted of a white button up dress shirt, khaki pants, and a brown leather jacket. He turned his head to look at me quizzically with his brown eyes, his left hand steadily holding a teacup.

"OAK!" I croaked, flinching anime style.

The only thing could do was freeze up. I mean seriously, who DIDN'T know Professor Oak? You either know him, or you've been living in the center of the earth. Seriously, he's known all over! And yet, here I am standing in front of him looking like some stupefied toddler...Nice...

"Yes, that's me." Professor Oak said, setting his teacup down.

"...H-Huh?" I stammered, shaking my head quickly as if I just woke up from a trance.

"You said '', did you not?" he raised a brow.

"Oh, technically I did, but..." I mumbled, searching for the right words.

"Oh!" shouted the man sitting next to him to Professor Oak as he stood up, making me turn my attention to him. He was wearing a dirt brown suit that looked completely hideous and a fedora to accompany it. I couldn't help but wince at the fashion disaster in front of me. "You must be Ashurii!"

I nodded. "Uh...Yea?"

He walked up to me and shook my happily, grinning away. "My name is Mr. Pokemon!" he paused, the spoke again, "Well, it's actually Tiberius Wolfe, but everyone calls me because of my love for pokemon research. You were sent by the Professor Elm, correct?"

Arceus, I look dumb. "Yes..."

"Ah, of course you are my dear. Please, make yourself at home until I return!" Mr. Tiberius-no, Mr. Pokemon?-told me as he walked quickly out of the room, leaving Zoro and I with Professor Oak.

I glanced over at him and saw that he was now eyeing my over the rim of his teacup as he took a sip. I sighed through my nose and stared at the door Mr. Pokemon had ran through. We could now hear crashes every few seconds from wherever he was. Were all researchers messy? I was seeing a pattern.

"Miss Ashurii, was it?" Professor Oak asked, catching my attention.

I completely turned to his this time, and Zoro pressed his body closer to my neck warily as I did so. "Uh, yea, that's me."

"What were you saying when you walked inside, again?"

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "I was telling Zoro that I thought traveling and battling with Pokemon was actually pretty fun."

"Are you a pokemon trainer on a journey?"

I shook my head, my gaze lowering to my feet for a split second. "No sir, I just came out here to retrieve an item from Mr. Pokemon as requested by Professor Elm."

Professor Oak hesitated a moment. "I see." he said as he stood up and walked up to me. From his jacket's left pocket, he pulled out a shiny rectangular black box and tossed it in his hand once before holding it in front of me. "Would you want to if I gave you the option to right here?"

My eyes widened. "Excuse me?" I questioned to clarify is I had actually heard correctly.

"Do you know what this is, Miss Ashurii?"

As he said that, ran clumsily back into the room with something in his arms and that silly grin still plastered on his face. "I'm back! Anyway-" he started, but silenced himself when he saw the "predicament" before him.

"...That, Professor Oak, is a Pokedex and judging from the design and pristine shape it's in, it's also the latest model." I analyzed, slowly looked up to meet his gaze.

Said professor nodded and put it in one of my hands. "I want you to have this Pokedex."

"Hah? You're kidding! You don't even know us at all!" Zoro yelled from my shoulder, his voice making my ears ring in pain.

He chuckled at Zoro's remark. "Indeed I don't. However, I've always been a good judge of character. I've done this once before to a young trainer I met, and let me tell you...He exceeded my expectations! Haha!" he then gave a happy sigh. "That is why I'm giving you this."

I stayed silent, so he continued on.

"To be honest, Tiberius told me you were running an errand for Elm, so I decided to stay here to see if you could possibly be the one to take over ownership of that Pokedex."

"Speaking of me, here you are, Ashurii!" Mr. Pokemon interjected as he walked up and gave me an oversized egg, which made me stumble back a few steps.

"It's a pokemon egg, you know. A friend I know in Ecruteak gave it to me. It looked rather rare, that's why I wanted to show Elm! Professor Oak himself says he's the best in pokemon evolution."

Professor Oak nodded curtly. "Indeed he is. Any who, I must be going to Goldenrod for my radio show." he explained, then pat me on the shoulder. "Ashurii, I implore you to go on your own journey. If you tell Elm what happened here, he'll give you your trainer card."

"...That's sounds incredibly cliché." I told him with a blank stare.

Zoro held in the laugh in his throat as the two men in the room stared at me like I was insane.

Eventually, Professor Oak gave a laugh said a simple "Farewell now" to us, and headed toward the exit. I turned to watch him leave as his words continued to ring in my mind as if he was still saying then. Once his hand landed on that doorknob, though, I felt my hold around the pokemon egg tighten as what I was thinking leapt up from my throat:

"That person that exceeded your expectations was Red, wasn't it?"

He looked back at me. "Why, yes, it is." he confirmed, then patted a fist onto his palm. "And now that I'm remembering him, he's actually mentioned your very name before! How ironic is that? Anyway, goodbye now!"

And then he left, leaving the door wide open.

I nibbled on my bottom lip as my eyes scanned the doorway, then lowered them to stare down at the speckled white egg in my arms. _'I know.'_ I thought.

I decided against remembering anything related to him, though. There wouldn't be any need to because of what would eventually be waiting at home for me.

"Shouldn't you be heading back to Professor Elm, Ashurii?"

"Yep! Ahaha, see you later Mr. Tiberius." I replied cheerfully as I walked out the door to head back to New Bark town. If I knew coming to do something a simple as this, I would've accepted alot sooner. Red being mentioned once isn't going to hurt, anyway.

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

_**(A/N: Random: Eric Shevel (pronounced ERIK SHA-VELL, not shovel. lol)...I've always liked the way it sounds. I think it sounds awesome. And then there's "Echo", aka Hibiki. I'm having Zoro call him that because Hibiki means sound/echo in japanese last time I checked, and it sounds like a good nickname for Zoro to give him!**_

_**...So...Yea! First chapter of my Nuzlocke. It sucks, I know, oh well... But knowing myself, it's better than it actually looks because I have confidence issues or something. =_= Hope you guys liked it too! Till next time, I hope?**_

_**Hn...And I'm sure there will be SilverxOC eventually. Eventually, my friends.)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_(I love this chapter so much because of reasons...Ahaha! Anyway, time to reply to the reviews you all were so kind to give me. Firstly~ **Sapphire**: Thanks, I'm glad you like it. :D It's better when you read the whole thing, right?** 0athk33p3r and 0bl1vi0n**: Wow, I'm really glad you like it so much! I didn't think it was that good, so it's very reassuring to know. And yes, Zoro is very awesome indeed. He's very important. **Farla**: Thank you for your input, it is appreciated. Yes, I know that sentence may have been taken as offensive, that's why I changed it the next morning. Ashurii's character isn't the most pleasing one anyhow, so I'm sorry if you don't like her. I most probably will die like that anyhow seeing how I'm a pyromaniac and all, but oh well.** Kyo**: Thanks, Kyo! Ahaha, lucky for you, the person you want appears in this chapter. Hope you'll like it. I'll be getting onto Checkmate I assure you.)_

**Fellow Delinquent**

Zoro and I were now only a few minutes from Cheerygrove City and taking our good old time doing it, I can assure you. Zoro was jabbering away from his place on my shoulder about all that happened Mr. Pokemon's house, about the Pokedex, and even more about the egg I was now carrying in my arms.

As he continued his 'happy speech', I rolled my eyes at how annoying he was getting and pulled out my new, sleek black Pokedex. When I opened it, I saw a little note inside it. Slowly, I grabbed it after shifting the pokemon egg in my arms. The note read:

_~Miss Ashurii, _

_On this piece of paper is my phone number. I have the feeling this won't be the last time we meet. If you ever need me for anything, please don't hesitate to call me._

_-Professor Oak~_

I gripped the paper angrily. What the! He knew he was gonna give me this Pokedex before I even got there! how dare he just assume that I'd agree to do such a thing?

"-And who knows that's in this egg, Ashurii!" Zoro continued, even though I wasn't even listening to half of it. "You know-"

"You conceited Pokemon Professor!" I shouted to the skies, interrupting Zoro completely and causing him to stare at me.

"Ashurii, were you even..."

I froze at his words and glanced away, laughing nervously. The last thing I needed was Zoro mad at me because I wasn't listening to what he was saying. He always overreacted and refused to talk to me for the longest time if it came down to that. Yep, he was like a five year old at a supermarket when he was ignored... He learned from me, so I knew how hard it was to get him to forgive me.

Luckily, it seemed Arcues was on my side. My PokeGear stated ringing, and I pulled it out of the holder hanging on my belt to look at it.

I grunted as if I just stubbed my toe at the name on the screen. What did Professor Elm want now?

Reluctantly, I answered it. "Hello-"

"OH! ASHURII!" Professor Elm practically screamed before I had the chance to speak. "It's terrible! Just a complete disaster here! I don't know what to do! Oh my!"

Arceus, he sounded like a housewife... "What are you talking about, Professor?" I inquired, my voice hinted with slight bitterness.

"Oh...I don't know what to say, so just please hurry up and get back here NOW!"

With a click, his call ended and all I heard was a continuous beep from my PokeGear. Zoro and I exchanged an apathetic stare as I returned the device to it's rightful place on my belt.

"Sounds pretty serious." he pointed out.

"Yep... Should we hurry then?" I asked.

"Pssh. No. I say we take our jolly good time."

I laughed. "Well said, my friend."

We headed into Cherrygrove City once again, taking the same way as before: walking past the PokeMart, past the Pokemon Center, past a few houses that accompanied the tiny city, past some nicely tended to flowers, and then, of course, the exit. Zoro once again declined the use of the Pokemon Center like the high and mighty pokemon he thinks himself to be. He says he just wants to boast to Hibiki as quickly as possible, or... That's how I interpreted it anyway.

"Oh damn, we're halfway ho-" I began to complain, but couldn't say anymore before someone knocked straight into me.

The 'obstacle' that had just ran into me, along with myself, shouted as we both fell into the brush. Luckily for me, the egg I was holding wasn't harmed. Yes, I kinda let go of it, but Zoro caught it with ease due to his transformation abilities. I let out a moan and held my head in pain as I sat up slowly, gritting my teeth. I thought crashing into people only happened on the animes I watched on television anyway!

"Hey, stupid, why don't you-"

I shut myself up automatically at the person sitting next to me, who looked like he was in just as much pain as myself. He had crimson red hair that stopped a little past his shoulders, black jacket with red trimmings, purplish-blue jeans, and steely silver eyes. This guy looked oddly familiar for some reason... I know I've seen him somewhere...

Oh, wait, it was that guy that was being dragged around by that old man earlier today...Haha, this'll be FUN.

The red head looked startled at the fact he was sitting next to me and sneered in disgust as he scooted back to stand up. Well now, I didn't really want to resort to force, but it'll have to do if I see an escape attempt.

I grabbed him by one of his shoulders and pushed him onto his back, then sat on top of him. Awkward position, right? Well, I'm not the type of girl to care about such things. I do what I want, when I want, and never care what people think about said wants. He gave a growl and tried to shove me off of him, but I grabbed both sleeves of his jacket and pinned his arms down that way with one hand.

"Let me go and fuck off." he snapped.

"Awkward choices of words at the moment, pretty boy." I retorted.

"It's your fault you have no upper body strength, anyway." Zoro added from behind me, who was currently in the form of a little boy. "Teenaged guys are supposed to be stronger than the girls to show off, right?"

I shrugged in agreement at Zoro's remark as I used my free hand to look through the guy's pockets. I first looked through the pockets of his jeans; nothing. Grumbling, I searched the left pocket of his black jacket and felt something interesting. Two something's that were interesting as a matter of fact. I pulled them out of his pocket and held them in my hands, and his eyes widened almost instantly. This time, he managed to shove me off of him, which made my back hit a tree. All I did was grin at him as I held up the two pokeballs I had retrieved from his pockets and eyed them carefully.

"Well now, what do we have here? If I'm not mistaken, these pokemon are from Professor Elm's lab~." I chimed in an oddly happy tone.

I looked over at him, who was squeezing the grass with his hands that were covered by black gloves and gritting his teeth angrily. He didn't look as if he planned on doing anything, probably because Zoro was there. Ha, smart man.

Taking one last look at the pokeballs and the red head, my mind easily put the pieces together and what he had done.

"Do we have a thief here?" I asked almost mockingly.

He stayed silent, but the way his eyes glared daggers at me was more than enough to answer my question.

"So what's your name, Mister Thief?"

"Why do I even need to tell you?" he spat.

"Well, I was trying to be polite for a change, but since you're like that-" I began, shrugging as I looked down at the trainer card in my hand I had also found in his coat pocket. "It's nice to meet you, Silver Kamon Rocket. Nice name you got there, buddy." I complimented, then tossed it back to him. "You must be named after your eyes, huh? Just think, if I was named after my eyes as well, we'd have the same name!"

"How did you-"

"Well, that doesn't really matter. I have a preposition for you, Silver."

Silver's eyes narrowed at me. "And what's that?"

I crossed my arms and smiled devilishly as we heard a few people run past us. "I'll keep one of those pokemon, and as thanks for you 'giving' it to me, I'll give the police that are most probably waiting at the lab a fake description. The Professor there is a loony schizo, so I can easily manipulate what he thought he saw." I tossed him one of the pokeballs after I chose the one I wanted and we stood up. "Do we have a deal?"

Silver stepped closer to me, squeezing his pokeball so tightly I thought he'd crack it. "Why are you helping me?" he demanded.

I shrugged playfully. "I'm just a delinquent helping out a fellow delinquent." I explained. "So...Ready to owe me big time in the future, pretty boy?"

"I'm praying I'll never see you again in the future."

"Oh, you and I both know that won't happen, Silver."

He gave an annoyed suck of his teeth as he shoved me aside and dissapeared through the trees.

I couldn't help but smile as I put the pokeball holding my new pokemon into my jacket's pocket and zipped it up. "Well, let's 'hurry back' to Professor Elm, Zoro." I urged as I grabbed the egg from him and we continued on to New Bark Town.

**...**

Once I entered the lab, I was greeted by a hug from Hibiki, who was still as annoyingly bubbly as ever. As soon as he caught a glimpse of the egg in my arms, though, he immediately started pestering me with questions. Luckily for me, Zoro was able to divert his attention when he started bragging... Arceus, how I love my little friend. As I made my way to the back of the lab, my sight was greeted with a pretty boy policeman probably in his early twenties and a Professor Elm that looked like he was on the verge of bursting into tears. Oh Arcues, here we go...

When I stopped in front of the two, the policeman turned to me with an apathetic look on his face. "There is a rule that the one who did it will always come back." he said, tightening his gaze very suddenly. "Why am I not surprised it's a delinquent..."

Delinquent, he says? This annoying little man who has such a stupid stereotypical based thought process oughta...

Before I could open my mouth and say what I was thinking, Hibiki cut in-yet AGAIN-from behind me. "Hm? No, Ashurii just came back from helping Mr. Elm. Plus, her only pokemon isn't native to this region."

Too bad he wasn't in my main view because he was still in the front with Zoro, or I would've definately kicked him for interrupting me so much today.

My pocket that was zipped up twitched slightly, and I gave an innocent smile. "Exactly." I agreed.

The policeman gave a slight "Hn" and turned back to Professor Elm. "Well, do you know what he looked like, Professor?"

Professor Elm dabbed his forehead that was beading with sweat, his eyes scanning the floor frantically. "O-Oh, well, I-I think he had red hair and-"

"Don't listen to him, he's a freaking schizo." I interrupted, waving a hand from side to side to dismiss his words.

Professor Elm whirled around and his mouth went agape, obviously apalled.

Regardless of how much I wanted to laugh, I continued, "I actually ran into the thief you're looking for, _sir_. We collided along the road and I saw the pokeballs holding Chikorita and Tododile."

Professor Elm pointed at me in an excited way. "Yes, yes, those are the ones that dissapeared!" he confirmed.

"Alright, what did he look like then?" questioned the policeman, notebook in hand.

"He had short blonde hair, bright green eyes, was wearing some, as _you_ would _probably_ call it, emo looking clothes with chains on them and stuff, two piercings on his left ear, and was a few inches taller than me." I explained without a hint of hesitation, touching the parts of my body respectively to help me describe.

The officer nodded, jotting down my desription quickly in his notebook in a sloppy way. "That's quite the accurate description..." he sighed. "If only we had a name."

"I know it."

Professor Elm shook his head quickly in surprise as he looked at me. "W-What? You do? How?" he asked.

"When we ran into each other, he also dropped his trainer card."

"What was his name?" pestered the policeman.

I glowered up at him. Him and his questions were getting pretty annoying, that's for DAMN sure. I lowered my gaze to look at his shiny, brand new looking name tag on it. In all capital letters was apparently his name, which read "Falkner".

Yea, well, listen FALKNER, you're annoying. Thank Arceus thoughts can't penetrate your mind.

Under Falkner's name in smaller print was where he was from, which was Violet City police station. Ew... Official law enforcement... And my hatred for people who think they can control me grows from just hatred to hatred AND annoyance.

"His name was Zander. Z-A-N-D-E-R." I said.

"Officer" Falkner wrote one last thing in his notebook before he snapped it closed and nodded thankfully before leaving the lab. We heard the screech of a bird pokemon and a flap of wings before the loudness of the lab had slowly returned.

I sighed in exasperation and looked at Professor Elm, who was holding his chest with a look as if he just escaped death. There he goes again, doing wierd stuff... Or maybe he was still in shock from what had happened... Either way, next time I see Professor Oak, I'm going to ask him why he suggested THAT GUY as a fellow professor to the Pokemon Association.

"Professor Elm, now would be a good time to retrieve the egg from Ashurii." Hibiki pointed out as he hopped up, slinging an arm around my shoulder while Zoro stood close to my feet.

Said glasses wearing Professor turned as he said that, his eyes landing on the pokemon egg in my arms. He jumped in surprise, marveling it in all it's oval glory as he took it and held it up towards the ceiling.

"Oh! It's another pokemon egg!" he said happily.

"...Another?" I echoed.

He looked at me, seeming confused by my words. "Mr. Pokemon has always had an interest in Pokemon eggs. However, an egg is still an egg. I've seen many before. I'll keep it for a while, nonetheless."

_~"If you tell Elm what happened here, he'll give you your trainer card."~_

I swallowed as the words Professor Oak said earlier today echoed in my head at that moment. Be like my brother, like Red-like HER-, and travel the region...Would I even be good at that? Well, I suppose there's that saying "always try something new" or whatever it was. Glancing down at the pocket holding my Pokedex, I gave a slight nod to myself. Of course I wanted to do it.

"...Hey, Professor, I want you to make my trainer card." I spoke up, my voice lower than I thought it should've been.

Him and Hibiki both grew silent, and as if reading thier minds, the rest of the people in the lab did the same, peeking from behind bookshelves, papers, and doorways to see what was going on.

"...I-I'm sorry, uh, why would you request something like that?" Elm studdered, seeming very shocked.

"Professor Oak suggested I go on my own pokemon journey to fill up the Pokedex he gave me, so I wanted my trainer card." I informed him, taking out the rectangular hand held device and holding it up in my right hand.

Most of the assistants watching us gasped and started murmuring amongst themselves while Hibiki and him stayed silent, maybe because the Professor in front of me was gaping like some Seaking and the guy with a black buneary for hair was staring at me with raised brows.

"PROFESSOR OAK GAVE YOU A POKEDEX?" the Professor shreiked.

I nodded, looking pretty indifferant at the moment.

"Well, if you're going to help will up a wonderous invention like the Pokedex, how could I refuse!" he cheered. "Of course I will come, come to the back!"

He quickly grabbed me by the shoulders and shoved me into another room after he set the pokemon egg on a table, my two friends following close behind. As we entered it, Professor Elm was quickly hopping over to one of those old looking camera's where you have to hide under a black cloth to take the picture. He motioned me over in from of it, which was pointing to a wall with a blue background.

I did as he had silently requested and walked over in front of it, Zoro jumping on my shoulder as I did so. Of course he wanted to be in the picture. Zoro had always been, let's say, very photogenic. Elm dove under the black cloth on the camera, and I looked over at Hibiki who was still smiling that happy smile he always had.

"Hey, Hibiki, what should I pose as: sunshiny or delinquent?" I asked.

He pondered for a moment, tapping his chin lightly with his index finger. "Sunshiny!" he decided.

"Delinquent it is." I agreed as I looked back at the camera, fixed my sidebang so it was completely covering my eye, held my hand up, stuck my middle finger out, and stuck my toungue out in a mocking fashion.

Mimicking me the best he could, Zoro stuck his tounge out as well as the camera gave a flash, signaling the picture had been taken. Once done, Professor Elm came out from under the cloth with a grey trainer card with my picture and information on it. I guessed he had a built in keyboard or something under that flimsy piece of a curtain where you could type my information in or something.

He laughed nervously as he handed the plastic card to me. "A-Ashurii...Don't you think you'll attract the wrong kind of people like this?" he pointed out.

"Exactly." I agreed.

Hibiki skipped up to me to look at my new card from over my shoulder, giving a frown. "Do you even listen to me when I say things to you?" he asked.

I looked at him. "Of course. Do you NOT see me do the exact opposite of what you say?"

He shot me a childish scowl, which I completely pretended to ignore as I whirled to face Zoro and grin happily. He was staring up at me with the same amount of excitement I was staring at him with, his amber eyes gleaming happily. He must've known what I was going to say.

"Alright, we're definately gonna kick the crap outta the league, aren't we Zoro!" I cheered, flashing my new trainer card more than I should've on purpose.

He did a flip in mid-air. "Ha! You can bet yours we will!"

"...Oh my... Miss Ashurii, you don't know?"

Zoro and I both paused to look at the person possessing the voice: Professor Elm. He was giving a worried frown, his brows furrowing at my reaction. What exactly was I supposed to be knowing, again?_ Keep smiling, atleast, Ashurii._

"Ashurii... You can only challenge the Johto region with Johto native and/or born pokemon. You won't be able to use Zoro."

My smile faded slowly at his words, my gaze flickering to the hurt on Zoro's face before looking back at him. Eventually, I was able to reform it to hide what I was thinking as I picked up my fox pokemon in my arms and hopped backwards a little. I was going to have to punish myself later for acting so much like Hibiki...

"Oh, I already know that, Professor!" I said.

"Eh? What? Ashurii!" Zoro shouted, starting to squirm in my arms.

Hibiki sighed. "Well-! I must be getting on with my journey of my own now. I can't lounge around here any longer. Ashurii, Mr. Elm, I'm off now!"

"Have a pleasant journey, Hibiki!" Professor Elm answered, waving to my raven haired firnd as he left.

Zoro was still squirming and yelling in my arms as we watched him leave, and even when Elm turned back to me to smile that 'I'm so proud of you' smiles. For once, I didn't have a problem with the guy. Any other time, he'd be just an annoying scizo to me, but seeing how this would be the last time I'd see him for a while, he didn't seem that bad right now.

Starting to humm a tune, he started sorting papers on a nearby desk. "Well Ashurii, all you need to do now is tell your mother, and you'll be off on your journey as well, no?"

The smile on my face cracked instantaneously. Right... My mother. When Professor Oak gave me the Pokedex, I knew I'd eventually have to tell her I was leaving. It would be easy. It was just words I'd be saying to her and all that, of course, but... What I knew she was going to bring up made me kind of NOT want to tell her. Guilt trips and reminders of the past are anything but pleasant, as you know.

"Right, of course. Thank you." I spoke in monotone as I walked out the room and exited the lab.

"When we got outside and I started heading home, Zoro, who had still been yelling and squirming this whole time, leapt out my arms and turned to face me, his eyes gleaming in a mix of hurt and anger.

"Ashurii!" he shouted at me. "Why did you say that? How could you agree so easily to what that guy said? I thought we were gonna beat the league together!"

I gave a scoff as I threw my hands into the air in exasperation. "Well what did you want me to say? Say 'Oh, I'm going to use Zoro anyway to beat the league'?" I retorted.

"I can shapeshift." he pointed out, giving a huff through his nose.

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out so I closed it. I stared down at his body that was an amalgam of black, purple, and red quietly. I knew what he meant when he said that; I did completely. However, sooo many problems might occur... Then again, I grew up practically **living** for 'problems', so why not?

Pinching the arch of my nose with my thumb and index finger, I gave a sigh in defeat. "So let me see if I'm undersatanding you correctly... You want to cheat the league?"

He gave a quick nod, his eyes practically pouring with determination. "Yes." he confirmed.

"We'll be banned from challenging the league if we get caught, you know." I warned.

"I'll be sure to stay in my shift when I'm supposed to."

"I might get my trainer card revoked."

"Not if we don't get caught."

I stared. "...So you're sure about this?"

"More than anything."

I wished to sigh again at how stubborn Zoro was being, but refrained from it somehow. Doing something like this is a make-or-break situation. One wrong move, and we're DONE. Somehow, I ended up finding myself smirking at the idea. Oh well~, I've always been good at gambling anyway.

Pointing a finger at Zoro, I said, "Fine, we'll do it. But only after the first gym, alright?"

Zoro danced happily, his fangs gleaming from the rays of the sun as he gave a grin. "Alright~! You got it!"

Chuckling, I picked him back up in my arms and started heading home where Mom would most certainly be waiting for me. We were going to cheat the Pokemon League... Things can't get more fun than that.

Our house wasn't that far from the lab, so it didn't take long for it to come into sight. Average red roof, average tan walls; average, average, and more average. Standing in front of the door and staring quizically at it was my mother. Near her feet were some bags, so I assumed she had finally come back from shopping in Cherrygrove. Why was she standing in front of the door, though? Why didn't she just-

As I was thinking that, I heard my pocket jingle. Blinking blankly, I reached into it to feet the cool feel of metal, which, ironically enough, turned out to be the house keys. The ONLY pair of house keys, to be exact. Atleast I could use this to my advantage...

Stopping probably ten feet away from my Mom, I cleared my throat to catch her attention. Quickly she looked over at me to meet my gaze with her greyish-blue eyes. Her long, chocolate brown hair that reached her waist still looked oddly thin, and she was wearing the clothes she normally wore that practically screamed "I'm a house widow". Seeming a little happy to see me, she smiled before putting her hands on her hips and turning to the doorway once again.

"Oh, Ashurii, there you are. Do you have the keys? The door seems to be locked." she said to me.

Now or never, I guess. "Mom... I need to tell you something."

"And what's that?"

"...I've decided to go on a Pokemon journey starting today." I declared.

I've never seen her whirl to me so fast with such a look on her face. The expression she wore was something between being apalled and horrified. Her eyes were probably as wide as possible, and she seemed to be holding the breath she had just taken in before I spoke.

"WHAT?" she shrieked.

"You heard correct. I plan on going today." I confirmed.

"Ashurii, are you out of your mind? A pokemon journey is dangerous, and you know that! You could die; Zoro could die!"

"I know. I knew from the start it wouldn't be easy."

She gritted her teeth angrily, her usually gentle eyes gleaming in a way I thought they couldn't. "What if you end up like Kotone?" she demanded at the top of her lungs. Thank Arceus the neighbors weren't around right now...

My jaw tightened at the mention of my deceased older cousin. I knew she would eventually bring that up if I told her I wanted to go on a pokemon journey. I knew she would, but... "Mom," I began, ignoring the tightness wrapping tighter and tighter around my chest. "Kotone was fighting the likes of Team Rocket three years ago with THE Red. Team Rocket were merciless people, and you know that. One of them was bound to die in the end, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be Red. We can't help that. It's thanks to Kotone's help that Red even got rid of those guys back then, you know. What exactly are you thinking in that head of yours right now? Do you think I'm going to do the same? Do you think I'm going to purposely chase after some criminal organization or something?"

She was silent as she listened to my words.

"I'm not her, that's what I CAN guarantee you."

"Why can't you just be like your brother and just stay...?" she almost whimpered.

I scoffed. "Black, you mean? Mom, he went to Unova to live with Aunt Hilda in Nuvema Town where, might I add, you are nowhere near to push the thought of going on a pokemon journey out of his mind. He's already on his pokemon journey." I told her, narrowing my eyes in dissapointment. "Don't tell me you really didn't know. Seriously, think about it: how else would he have sent a pokemon like Zoro to me if he wasn't traveling the region?"

I saw her eyes grow wide in realization as she glanced down at the pokemon in my arms.

"So what do you say?" I asked.

She shook her head furiously, turning once again to the front door of our house. "Absolutely not! Now let's just forget this ever happened!" she declined.

"Door's locked, remember?" I pointed out, causing her hand to freeze once she touched the doornob. I then took the keys out of my pocket and let them dangle on my index finger. "And I have the keys."

"...Ashurii...Hand them over to me or you're** grounded**." Mom threatened.

I paused, staring up at the sky in ponderment. "Oh yea...I think I left the oven on when I was cooking myself some food earlier..." I mused out loud.

Silence fell between us after I said that for a long time. I stood there hugging Zoro as tightly as I could to my chest with one arm while the other held up the keys. Said pokemon was currently staring intently at my mother at the moment, waiting for her answer. Mom, on the other hand, was still frozen in place with her hand still on the doornob. Her hair was falling down in front of her face, so I couldn't tell what emotion on her face she was showing when she finally spoke.

"...You ungrateful little child..." she whispered hoarsely.

My gaze lowered to focus on the tan sandles she was wearing. "I know."

"If you leave here, don't you EVER come back."

In angry mother language, that was a yes, so I tossed her the keys. She snatched them in mid-air and grabbed the bags that were at her feet, then hurriedly unlocked the door and slammed the door behind her.

Staring up at me with a curious expression, Zoro asked, "Do you have all your things?"

I unzipped my bag to look inside it. Inside was just some clothes I used as pajamas (I could wear them while washing my normal clothes), the usual hygene things such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, some snacks for the road, the potions Hibiki had given me which turned out to also be accompanied by some pokeballs, my PokeGear, and last but not least: my photobook holding all of my most favorite pictures. It'd be nice to have it along the road if I even got homesick.

For some reason, I knew there was a reason I had packed my bag as such when I left this morning.

"Yea, I have everything I need." I reassured him.

Glancing around suspiciously to see if anyone was near, I unzipped my coat pocket and pulled out the red crowned pokeball I had 'received' from Silver earlier today. Seeing no one in sight, I released the pokemon in front of me. When it materialized, I took in it's form with a grin on my face. It was a small reptilian-like pokemon with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth and red spikes running along down it's back and all the way down to the end of his tail. It was a tododile. Thinking about this now, Silver wouldn't surely hate me when he realizes he got the 'girly pokemon'.

Oh well!

Bending down to be eye level with the pokemon, my eyes closed halfway in what probably looked like disinterest. "So... Are you a dude or a chick?" I asked in a laid back voice.

It gave me one of those 'are you kidding me?' looks at my words, his eyes half-closing as well to mimic me.

Well now... Sarcastic, most probably snarky... "Dude it is, it would seem. It's nice to meet you."

He nodded as a reply.

"...So, I've decided to name you Kai. Does that sound good to you, Kai? Wanna help me kick some Johto League ass?" I said to said, holding a hand out to him.

After thinking for a moment at his new name, Kai eventually nodded, giving a grin at me. That was more than enough to answer my question. With a laugh, I turned on my heels to make my final steps out of New Bark Town and begin my own journey.

Hey, maybe if I'm lucky, I'll see that red head delinquent again along the road.

xxxxxxxxx

_**(A/N: Finally done~. That took forever. Agh, but oh well you know...Hope you guys liked it. I didn't see any typos when I was proof-reading, but I dunno...Do you guys see any? I don't really know what else to say besides ask this question, because it serves a special purpose at the moment:**_

_**What sounds better? Acid or Venom? )**_


	3. Chapter 3

(Fuuun~ for me in chapter three~. Now I shall reply to reviews since you all are kind enough to read them!: **0athk33p3r and 0b1ivi0n**: Oh yea~, because old dudes in pink aprons that are pros in cookie making are soo awesome. ;D Ahaha. And hey, that's not a bad idea you know! **Miss Odile**: asdfghkjkl-! Oh, thank you so much, Miss Odile! I'm glad you like it so far... ^^ Ahaha, yes, her and Silver are very similar, no? Oi, you don't need to cry… D: I-I was just telling the truth…)

**Ally And Determination**

"Thank Arceus this'll be the last time I ever see this dang city." I huffed as I walked out of Cherrygrove City's Pokemon Center, hugging a dark and light brown pokemon in my arms while Zoro sat at his usual place on my shoulder and Kai waddled briskly beside me. It was the third time we'd been in this city in one day, after all. And as you might've guessed, seeing the same city with the same buildings over and over again tends to get annoying.

The pokemon in my arms, as my Pokedex had informed me in a generic male voice, was a male Sentret that was currently level five. He had been level two when I found him along the road and decided to catch him, but we made sure to battle wild pokemon along the way so he could catch up to Zoro and Kai. Unfortunately for me, he didn't really seem like the 'battling' type. I'd have to find something he'd be good for…

I hugged the Sentret tightly, burying my face in the fur covering his back. "Ah~, Zebra, why are you so cuddly? You make me want to huggle you forever and ever." I told him, my voice coming out muffled.

I had decided to name him Zebra because of his interesting looking tail. Unlike the other Sentrets I had seen that had normal, stripped tails, Zebra's took the pattern similar to that on the body of a Zebstrika, thus explaining how his name was created. Unoriginal, yes, but he seemed to like the name so it didn't matter.

Zebra flinched at my words as he blushed furiously and hid his pace in his paws. He squeaked something in pokemon talk that made Zoro laugh from his perch on my shoulder.

"Ahaha! You better get used to it, fluffy! Despite how much of a tomboy this chick is, she has this crazy weird weakness for fluffy things and tears." Zoro told Zebra.

"What_—_ Hey! Don't give them any ideas!" I shouted as we took our first steps into Route 30.

"You mean don't tell them the truth?"

"There's no truth behind that, you two. Don't listen to him." I growled, puffing my cheeks.

Zoro shrugged. "Maybe you're just some tsundere."

I snorted. "Yea, right. If anyone's a tsundere, it's that redhead."

"How so?"

"Because it's so obvious he wants to be my friendly friend~!"

"Ahaha! Keep dreaming, Ashurii. He probably hates you."

It's thanks to those words that Zoro and I began some 'elaborate' conversation about Silver. Zoro thought he was some kid who hated the world and ran around pissing people off while I said he could be one of those guys who didn't tell people what he was truly thinking. Then the little guy said I was just sticking up for him because he was a delinquent. Yea, as you might've guessed, that statement didn't go ignored.

"What's with everyone classifying teenagers as delinquents just by how they look and act on the surface?" I whined, waving one arm through the air for emphasis. "That's… That's stereotyping!"

"Mm. Uh huh. Preach it, girl." Zoro agreed in monotone.

"And it's delinquentism!" I added, poking his nose knowingly.

"That's not even a word."

"It is now."

Zoro heaved a sigh. "Hey, all I'm saying is that he was pretty rough with you, wasn't he? Sure, it might've been because you sexually harassed him _— _and yes, it was sexual harassment, don't try to say it was something else _—_, but what if it wasn't? He might have anger issues, be socially inept, and be some kind of criminal—"

"Technically he is." I interjected. "And it wasn't sexual harassment."

"— Or better yet: he could be bipolar. Of course, bipolar dude are always 'fun', right?" he finished, despite my interruption.

Kai sighed and looked up at us with uncaring eyes as he said something in tododile language.

I could feel Zoro's fur bristle as he listened to the water pokemon. "Hey, this isn't a pointless conversation, Kai! You should be listening very intently because eventually you're gonna be battling this red head we're talking about, you know!" he snapped.

"Okay, okay, there's no reason to_—_"

"Todo." Kai said, tilting his head to the side.

"Hah? What do you mean 'we don't realize how dark it's gotten'? You act like we've been talking with our eyes closed or something!"

"For the love of ARCEUS, shut the **hell** up!" I ordered, my glare practically singing them. "I'm tired of getting interrupted today! Hibiki's not around anymore, so if I get interrupted anymore today the one who does the interrupting is getting SHAVED!"

All three of my companions grew silent at my words, and we walked in silence until decided to speak again.

"Anyway, Kai is absolutely correct! It IS getting dark outside, isn't it? Once we find a good place to rest, we'll_—_"

At that moment, I tripped and the front part of my body made contact with the hardness that was obviously the ground. Zebra, who I had accidentally thrown forward in the process of falling, and Zoro, who had jumped off my shoulder before impact, turned to face me with a worried look. I cursed under my breath as I pushed myself up on my elbows to look back at my feet. My boots were a tangled mess of grey shoe laces and some sticky white substance that practically had me taped to the ground.

"Okay, what the heck is this crap?" I demanded, grinding my teeth angrily. "These are new boots!"

The next thing I know, something drops on my head and a sharp purple something is pointing at my nose from above. From the looks of it and its purple coloring, I was going to guess it was pretty lethal.

Slowly, I lifted my hands up as it to show my innocence, eyeing my three pokemon quietly.

"What does it look like and how big is it?" I asked Zoro in a slow and calm voice who was currently staring at me with wide amber eyes.

"It's a big fat bug, that's what it is!" Zoro snarled, pawing the ground like an angry Rapidash. "How about I squash it!"

The thing on my head let out a hiss and poked my nose slightly, and what it said was most probably some kind of threat because I saw Zoro grow even more enraged.

Laughing a little, I raised my hands up higher. "Oh ho~, well done my friend." I complimented. "However I regret to inform you… I'm better."

With a grin, I tapped the pokeball I had picked up off of the ground from my backpack onto what was sitting on my head, causing it to be sucked inside the ball. As it vibrated in my hand, I stared apathetically at my three pokemon who looked quite surprised at my actions.

"Well, let's hope this guy gets caught or I'm pretty screwed, eh?" I said to them, resting my head in my free hand as I watched the red crowned ball shake.

When the ball stopped moving, signaling it had been caught, Zoro scrunched his nose up in disgust. "I don't even know why you caught it…" he grumbled in a voice I couldn't hear.

Turning the best I could, I tugged at the white substance clinging to my feet in anger, ripping it off in little pieces. I swear I'm going to have one hell of a chat with this bug type pokemon I caught because no one messes with my shoes. No one.

Kai, seeing me hassle with it, walked over to me to help pry the rest off with his teeth. After I gave him a soft pat on the head as a thank you, I grabbed the pokeball holding my new team mate and released it.

With a beam of red light, the pokemon materialized in front of me. It had a lime green body that contrasted against the current darkness despite the few dots of black covering it, six legs that were black and yellow, two sharp purple fangs protruding from the front of his face, and large black eyes that glared up at me in a way that was most probably angry. I scoffed at its look as I stood up and pointed my Pokedex at him.

"Spinarak, the String Spit Pokemon. It sets a trap by spinning a web with thin but strong silk. It waits motionlessly for prey to arrive. This Spinarak is a level eight male." My Pokedex informed me in its generic man voice.

Putting the device away, I glared at him. "You must think you're tough, huh short stack? Being a mighty level eight while everyone else is crawling below the fives must give you quite a lot of confidence." I said, folding my arms. "Well, as much as I'd like to give you an elaborate lecture about why you should never mess with me or anything pertaining to me, I'm exhausted. We'll have to deal with this tomorrow morning when I wake up."

Zoro climbed onto my shoulder, patting my nose with one of his paws. "Your now got poked by him, though! You're not gonna die or anything, are you?" he pestered. "Does it hurt? Do you-"

The Spinarak standing in front of me gave some kind of insect-like gurgle as he looked off to the right of him.

"Very funny, wise guy! Even if you didn't inject anything, I should rip you apart for threatening to hurt her!"

"Right… I'm flattered, Zoro dear. Anyway…" I began, tapping my chin lightly in thought. "Venom. I'm naming you Venom. Venom, this is Zoro, Kai, and Zebra. Welcome to the team."

"You can't be serious!" Zoro whined.

"I am, unfortunately for you. Now let's get some sleep. I want to be in Violet city by tomorrow."

…

I opened my eyes slowly to be met with the sight of the warm sun hitting my legs and the sounds of_—_

"Ah, no, Nii-chan… Pass it over to me…" Zoro mumbled, drooling at the mouth.

—Zoro's silly sleep talking as per usual… Arceus, he said and did the weirdest things when he wasn't awake, let me tell you. He always did something when he was sleeping and when he wasn't talking in his sleep, he'd at least be giving out some light snoring.

I peered around my surroundings slowly with half lidded eyes. Sleeping on my left and leaning against me was Kai, who was hugging my backpack the best he could like it was some sort of stuffed animal; Zebra was currently being hugged comfortably in my arms, his ears slack and falling in front of his face; Zoro was sprawled in some crazy way on my lap with one hind leg in the air while his tail stuck out in a way I thought wasn't even humanly possible; and then, of course, there was Venom who was currently sleeping on top of my head as if my hair was some sort of nest for him.

Releasing Zebra from my hold and letting him fall on Zoro, I raised my arms up to stretch and let out a yawn. The first real day to this little of journey of mine… What a refreshing thought.

"Ah~, m'kay, you guys… Wake up." I mumbled as I took my PokeGear out to look at the time. "It's eleven thirty. If we get ready now, we might reach Violet City by noon."

"Get… Offa me, fluffy!" Zoro huffed as he managed to push Zebra off of him, causing my sentret to roll off of me and hit the found.

Zebra squeaked in pain as he hopped up and pointed angrily at Zoro.

Said pokemon rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. I'm sorry."

Kai muttered something as he opened his eyes and looked at Zoro groggily. His sharp glare at the fox was more than enough to tell me he wasn't the morning type of guy.

"Why do you gotta start being a piss off as soon as you wake up?" Zoro demanded. "_Sorry_ for the fact we don't have your morning coffee, princess."

It didn't take long for Kai to hop onto his feet, shove Zebra out of the way, and start arguing with him. My sentret ran up to me and whined as hugged me, pressing his face into the fabric of my shirt.

"…Guys…" I called out, holding a hand out toward my bickering pokemon. "Come on, hey…"

"Like I care! Jeez, I can't believe I gotta have a team mate like you! You'd suit that redhead way better!" Zoro roared, getting in Kai's face.

With in patience running thin and a temple pulsing in annoyance, I grabbed Zoro by the scruff of his neck and held him in front of me. I could feel him start to shake in fear as I gave him a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Oh Zoro~," I chimed, tilting my head to the side cutely. "Argue anymore with Kai, and I'll be sure to give you a wonderful haircut with the scissors in my bag. Do you want a haircut, Zoro dear~?"

"N-No, I'm good. I'll behave. Kai and I will be friends from now on." He declined hurriedly, shaking his head frantically.

"What about you, Kai? Do you want one?

Kai mimicked Zoro's action, his turquoise orbs wide in fear as he shook his head.

"Wonderful. Now let's get ready to go, shall we?" I suggested as I hopped to my feet, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

Venom, who had finally woken up, climbed off my head and skittered down my back. His legs against my back tickled and I laughed and jumped forward as he got off and landed on the ground. He shot me a skeptical look which I returned with a grin as I lifted Zebra up in my arms.

"Well! Let's get going no!" I urged my pokemon, turning and starting to walk.

"…Ashurii, Venom isn't moving." Zoro pointed out as he hopped onto my shoulder.

Freezing in mid-step and turning around, I saw that Zoro was telling the truth. The bug type pokemon was still in the same place he had been when he climbed off my head in the shade of the tree we had slept under, his big eyes staring straight at me.

"What are you doing, Venom?" I asked. "I said let's go."

He stared at me for a few moments before reaching one of his six legs out warily into the sunlight. Almost instantaneously, he pulled it back and hissed angrily, skittering backwards.

With a groan, I put my hands on my hips and strode back over to him. "What? Don't tell me you hate the sunlight, dude."

Said pokemon simply stood his ground.

I rolled my eyes and gave an exasperated sigh as I bent down and opened my backpack. "Well, if you don't want to get back in your pokeball, I suggest you climb in here, pal."

Without hesitating, Venom crawled inside and accepted my invitation. He popped his head out of the opening, his head hidden by the flap. Shrugging at the oddness of it, I turned to start walking again.

"Well, atleast this'll give me enough time to give you your lesson from yesterday." I mused, blowing some stray hair out of my face.

**...**

"Wow~, so this is Violet City. Very traditional, huh guys?" I said, gazing around the city that seemed to enjoy overusing the color purple and its many shades.

"A little too traditional for my tastes." Zoro disagreed. "Let's hurry up and find the Pokemon Center so we can ask where the gym is."

"Calm yourself. The center's right over_—_ Well now~!"

Apparently Arceus was favoring me lately, for sitting on a bench in front of Violet City's Pokemon Center, wearing his bright orange beanie and vest as usual, was Eric. I saw him staring down at a pokemon egg that was resting on his lap, blowing bubble after bubble with his lime green bubblegum. He really has some bubblegum addiction, I swear…

"Well, if it isn't New Bark Town's favorite delivery boy!" I greeted joyfully, waving one arm through the air.

At the sound of my voice, Eric stood up and turned, a confident grin spreading across his face as he walked toward me to close the distance. "And if it isn't the delinquent that's the main topic of all of said town's gossip!" he retorted.

"Ooh pre-tell, my dear, what are they saying?" I pressed, hopping happily.

"Oh yea, all sorts of things! One rumor is that you ran away out of hatred for your mom, another is that you met some delinquent boy and ran away with him, and the one that makes me laugh the most: you blackmailed your mom into letting you go." Eric explained.

Zoro shot me a look which caused me to glance away and play with a piece of my hair. "Oh…Uh, I see…" I mumbled.

"Ashurii… How far off are those rumors?" Eric questioned, using one of those "oh great" tones of voice.

"Well, firstly," I began, causing Eric to give a sigh. "I maybe kind sorta blackmailed her into agreeing. I didn't plan on it at first, but the house keys were in my pocket and they just happened to be used as leverage…"

Eric hugged the egg in his arms like a seven year old would hug his favorite plush toy as he stared up at the sky in ponderment. "But your mom's not the type of person to give in just because you had the house keys…" he pointed out. "So what else did you say?"

"I told her I left the oven on."

"Did you?"

I snorted. "No, of course not. Why would I use an oven to cook when I can be lazy and use a microwave?"

I heard my pokemon laugh at my remark, and Eric shook his head with an amused look on his face.

"Not bad." He complimented.

"I have a master's degree in bullshitting, ya know."

"Right~, of course you do."

"Yes, I _do_. And secondly, I did not run away with him, just so you know. I am obviously by myself on this journey."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "So you did meet some 'delinquent'?"

"Yes, but we're rivals or something, I think. His name is Silver. I've already deduced he's a real hothead and obviously doesn't take orders very well, but he's SO much fun to tease it's not even funny. He makes you seem like a simple piece of paper compared to him." I clapped my hands together and gave a happy grin. "As a matter of fact, I hope he's here in Violet City! I can't wait to see the guy again~!"

"…I feel bad for the pain he shall suffer in the near future…" Eric muttered with an ominous aura looming around him.

"Right…" I agreed in a sarcastic tone, lowering my gaze so it could land on the egg in his arms. You know, this egg looked exactly like the egg I gave to Professor Elm yesterday… "So what's with the egg, Eric? If I'm not mistaken, that's the egg I gave to the professor."

As if just realizing he had it, Eric looked down at the oversized oval. "Oh, yes, as a matter of fact, it is. I was told to give it to you." He confirmed.

Before I could voice a single word of protest, Eric had shoved the egg into my arms and Zebra had climbed onto my free shoulder, the other being occupied by Zoro. What? Give ME the egg? I don't even handle children well! The last time I was around a bunch of kids, I made a little girl cry because I threatened to cook her growlithe into a steak meal, for Arceus's sake! There's not way I could be a mom! Not to mention I almost dropped this thing the first time…

"Listen, messenger boy_—_"

The sound of a loud bark silenced me at that moment. That bark was then followed by the screech of a bird pokemon as an orange and black pokemon with tan fur that was just as tall as him ran up, a large bird pokemon landing right beside it. I couldn't help but gape just at the size of them.

"Oh, Arcanine, Pidegeot, did you finish delivering the other packages for here?"

He received a simultaneous nod from them.

"Whoa, Eric! There are your pokemon?" I yelled in surprise, marveling them with wide eyes.

Eric raised a brow as he pet the large orange pokemon beside him. "Of course they're mine. Ashurii, it may seem like I'm just your New Bark delivery boy because I visit so often, but I actually deliver things all over Johto. These guys protect me since there's the occasional morons who think they can jump me." He explained. "Right, Arcanine?"

The pokemon he was petting wagged its tail as a response.

"Well, I'm sure you feel silly now, Ashurii." Zoro whispered into my ear with a snicker.

As if remembering something, Eric blinked and turned back to me and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Hey, Ashurii…" he began, his voice having an odd sound to it.

"Hn? What?" I asked.

"This pokemon journey of yours, it's not going to be all fun and games. There will be a time when one of your team mates will die, where you have no where to go, where you'll have to go to sleep hungry just to make sure your pokemon don't starve in your place, and where you might be told to give up… You have to understand that."

His tone of voice sent a shiver down my spine as I averted my eyes to focus on his brown boots, hugging my egg tightly. "I… Know that." I mumbled.

"You probably do because of what happened to Kotone, but I just need to reiterate it now so I can make sure you know what you're doing. Trust me; these journeys can be anything but fun sometimes. I would know." Eric continued.

"You went on one?" _How come I was never told of this?_

He nodded solemnly. "I lived in Kanto at the time, so I went around collecting badges from there. I lost friend along the road and ended up getting hurt more than I should've, but I still ended up getting all the badges."

"Did you challenge the Pokemon League?" Zoro questioned, listening very intently now.

My messenger friend shook his head, some of his sandy tan hair falling over his eyes. "Before I even got there, my 'rival' challenged me to a battle."

"What happened?" my fox pokemon pestered.

"I won, but only halfway. I say halfway because in that battle…" he bit his lip slightly. "My partner died. His dragonair strangled my charizard to death…"

Arcanine let out a whimper as he nuzzled Eric's shoulder, his Pidgeot doing the same with the other shoulder. Their trainer gave a weak chuckle as he looked at them and gave a smile.

"Hey, I'm sure Jess didn't regret a single thing he did that day, you two. Forget about it." He reassured them, then gave a sigh. "Anyway, we should be going Ashurii. Goodbye."

As he brushed past me to leave, a thought clicked in my mind and I whirled around to glare at the back of his head.

"HEY!" I shouted, causing him to stop and look back at me.

I pointed to Zebra who was still on my left shoulder. "I want you… To take this guy back to New Bark to my mom. He's already told Zoro he's not the battling type anyway, and I wouldn't want him to get hurt."

He shook his head for a bewildered look for a moment before giving a smirk and folding his arms. "Alright," he agreed. "On one condition, though. Since you say you're _so good_ at bullshitting, give me a good excuse I can give your mom that'll make her keep this guy."

I glanced at Zebra, who was peering at me with innocent chocolate brown eyes. "Well… When I first met this guy, he looked so cute and cuddly and I've always had a soft spot for things like that. However, it was obvious he wasn't the battling type of guy… He's innocent and constantly needing someone near him, and it kinda reminded me a lot of how I used to act with my mom as a kid…"

Eric was silent for a few seconds before he gave a laugh. "Hey, not too shabby there." He told me as he held his arms out to Zebra, who jumped into them happily.

I shrugged. "Meh. Too bad I wasn't bullshitting ya that time."

He ruffled my hair before he started walking away. "I'll see you around, Ashurii. Just keep my words in mind."

"I will, Eric." I reassured him.

Eric gave a slight chuckle. "And if it's of any significance, I saw some redheaded kid go into Sprout Tower." He added before I let him disappear out of sight.

Redhead? Sprout Tower?

I immediately whirled around to see a tall tower towards the north of Violet city. A happy grin couldn't help but find it's way onto my face as I started walking, my pokemon uttering not a single word of complaint. Wait for me, Silver~.

I'm sure you'll be SO happy to see me again.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

(A/N: Firstly… SUCKY CHAPTER TITLE~! I just whipped it up and will change it when I find a better one. TRUST ME…xD Onwards: Finally done! I'M ANGRY AT MYSELF FOR PROCRASTINATING. Hope you liked. I think it could've been better... *headdesk* Oh well.

And I really enjoy writing with Eric around... It might be because Ashurii makes fun of him so much, but I really do find it fun with him around~ Silver too.)


	4. Chapter 4

_(How come in my reviews for chapter three, everyone seems excited for Ashurii to go harass Silver? XD LOL…**0athk33p3r and 0b1ivi0n**: Torture is such a crude term…xD I prefer to call it… "Teasing"~…AND YES! I love Pokemon Mystery Dungeon! ^^ I actually started writing a PMD story a few months ago on another site, you know. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon is so much fun~! **Miss Odile**: XD Do you know how hard it is to read that review at 3am and NOT burst into laughter and not wake my parents up? I was holding in so much laughter I was crying into my pillow! Glad you liked it that much~. And your Ohwoh spam is greatly appreciated. Owo **Kirby**:Wow, you're writing a Nuzlocke? I'm interested to see what run you do! Tell me whenever you get a chapter up! **Fromidan**: DSFGHJKKL Oh jeez thank you for your review I feel really special. 'Cause I know you're a friend of Miss Odile and all so I kinda feel really honored to be getting a review from you. I'm glad you like! Sorry it took so long, my mind died for a while. And by the way, giving up on chapter titles because I'm lame.)_

* * *

><p>xxxxxx<p>

"Whoa…" I breathed as I walked into the place named Sprout Tower. The first thing to catch my attention was the big middle pillar which, crazily enough, was swaying from side to side. I've never seen such a thing.

Running up to stand in front of it, I examined it closely. It really was moving… How?

"I dare you to touch it." Zoro told me with a snicker.

With a huff, I instantly reached my hand out to touch it. Zoro knows I'll take any dare that's handed to me, the little squirt! Though, now that I'm touching this pillar, it's pretty slick for a wooden pillar even if it DOES move. What the heck was this thing? I'd have to ask someone who works here that question…

Looking around the room_—_ which was probably just the first floor judging from the ladder I saw upon entering _— _my eyes eventually landed on a woman standing in front of the pillar as well, just on a different side. Her face was covering in white make-up, lipstick, and red eye shadow, her jet black hair as tied up into a neat bun on the top of her head, and she was currently wearing the most detailed kimono dress I had ever laid eyes upon. Its main colors were composed of a rusty red and a bright gold, and there were a few feathers hanging off of the ends of the sleeves like earrings. The thing I found odd about the feathers was that from here, they seemed to be the colors of a rainbow…

As if feeling my stare on her, the kimono girl blinked and looked around, her eyes almost instantly fixating on me. I flinched and glanced away, but unfortunately for me she walked over to where I was standing. Great, now I suddenly feel like I got in trouble or something…

"Hello there." The kimono girl greeted with a smile.

"Uh…Hello." I mumbled, pulling my hand back and hugging the egg in my arms tightly. "Sorry if I was staring…"

She gave a soft giggle as she turned to look at the swaying pillar. "It's quite alright. I believe I was paying attention to the pillar more anyway." She told me.

I tilted my head to the side to give her a curious expression. "Why were you doing that?" I asked.

"Oh, you see, I am a dancer in Ecruteak City. I was studying the way the pillar moves from side to side because like it, I must sway gracefully no matter what is going on around me. In the pillars case, it is swaying to keep balanced due to the battling going on upstairs."

I hummed in interest. So there was battling going on upstairs… At least I knew where I was heading next.

"Oh, what's this? A Pokemon egg?" the kimono girl gasped, breaking me out of my thoughts. Her eyes, which I was just now noticing were a bright hazel, were focused on the egg in my arms.

"Oh, yes it is." I confirmed. "It's an egg given to me from Professor Elm, who received it from Mr. Pokemon."

"Oh, so this must be..."

I perked up at the tone of her voice. What the? Did she know where this egg came from? If she did, I should ask her since that could help me figure out what this thing will hatch into…

"Hey, do you know what this thing hatched into, Miss? It looks familiar, doesn't it?" I pestered.

The kimono girl standing in front of me simply blinked and gave me a smile that seemed almost apologetic. "Oh, I would, but I really have to be returning to Ecruteak now…" she told me. "What is your name?"

"Uhm… It's Ashurii."

"Ashurii… Take good care of that egg, alright? I'm counting on you to do so."

"Well, if she doesn't, I'm always here to take care of it instead." Zoro reassured the kimono girl with a loud laugh.

She gave another one of her light giggles. "Thank you. I shall see you at a later date, Miss Ashurii."

And with that, the kimono girl gave a bow to us and walked away to leave us standing there in silence. The sucky thing was that she said all that stuff at the end so quickly I forgot to ask for her name… In the end, I simply gave a shrug and turned my body to face the ladder on this floor that would lead to the next.

"Well, let's start our way up to the top, guys." I urged them as I headed toward it to ascend to the upper floors.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Zoro, you and Kai be careful looking over the edge like that." I warned as we walked through the second floor of the tower. We could still see the swaying pillar, but it was now separated from us by wooden boards with holes in them plenty big enough to fall through.<p>

Popping his head out of my bag, Venom glances around _—_ probably to see if he was safe from the sun _—_ before crawling out and resting on one of my shoulders. He made a clicking noise as he looked at me, and I could kid of guess what he said very easily.

I merely gave a shrug. "Even if you could catch them in time with your string shot, I still think they'd be at fault." I told him.

"Oh yea, that reminds me Ashurii…" Zoro began as he ran up to walk beside me, Kai right behind him. "Eric never finished his story, did he?"

I swallowed to try and get rid of the lump in my throat that practically appeared immediately at his words. "No, he did. The rest was just self-explanatory."

He stared up at me curiously. "Then what happened?"

"He gave up."

"What? What do you mean he 'gave up'?"

"Zoro, I'm sure if I was him, I would've done the same. If my partner who kept me company since the beginning was killed right in front of me right before we were going to challenge the thing we had been striving for all that time, I'd give up too. I think Eric just didn't want to risk anymore of his friends dying that day. There _ARE_ no restrictions when it comes to battling the Pokemon League you know."

My Unovian pokemon grew silent at my words, and we all walked in silence for at least five minutes. As the ladder for the next floor came into sight, I heard Zoro give a yelp and I immediately spun around to see what was the matter.

And I couldn't help but laugh.

"Gaaaaah! Leave me alone, dammit!" Zoro wailed as he dashed past me, a purple orb with a lighter colored gas emanating from it floating right behind him.

The orb aforementioned had eyes the color of an amethyst jewel and a happy grin on its face that currently showed two fangs poking out the corners of its mouth.

"Whoa~! What's that thing?" I shouted in delight.

"I don't have the slightest idea, but tell him to leave me alone!" Zoro whined.

I watched for a few minutes as Zoro ran with the orb not too close behind him until an idea popped into my head and another one of those sneaky grins appeared on my face.

"Hey you!" I called out, causing the orb to freeze and look at me curiously. "You're interesting! You're a pokemon, right? How about joining my team? I could use someone who knows how to let loose and joke around."

The orb mimicked my grin and floated over to me, nodding happily. Seeing that it accepted my offer, I took my pokeball out and tapped it on its…head. The orb WAS considered a head, right? Upon being sucked inside, the ball instantly clicked. Weird… I guess that's what happened when a pokemon willingly decided to come with you. How wonderful it is to learn things! Wish capturing all of my team was this easy...

"H-How dare you accept such a team member without my consent!" Zoro demanded.

"Because I'm the leader of the team, obviously." I retorted, releasing my newest companion. "Don't worry; I'm sure you'll get over it."

"I'm appalled at your dictatorship!"

"Deal with it. Anyway, Pokdex, hit me up with what I want to know." I said, pressing a button on said device.

"Gastly, the gas pokemon. With it's gas-like body, it can sneak into any place it desires. However, it can be blown away by wind." My Pokedex informed me after a series of beeping noises. "This Gastly is a level nine male."

I hummed in interest. "So that's what you are… Well! Welcome, Yuya. I'm looking forward to the wonderful friendship we shall create."

"I can't believe this nonsense." Zoro muttered bitterly as he hopped onto my unoccupied shoulder, glaring at my Gastly, Yuya, as he floated in circles above my head.

"Oh, you know you like him." I mocked as we neared the ladder, only for a bald man wearing some purple robes to walk up to us with a pokeball in hand. I couldn't help but give him a confused look. "Do you need something?"

The bald man smiled and answered, "In Sprout Tower, you must battle your way to the top. I am your first opponent. Please keep in mind there is a "no killing" rule."

I stared at him apathetically before heaving a sigh and folding my arms. "Well, Kai, Venom, Yuya, you guys will be my front runners. I'm gonna have Zoro sit back for a while since he's a higher level than you." I explained as I cracked my knuckles. "Let's do this, then."

It didn't take long to reach the tower after battling atleast five of those guys that I learned weren't really classified as 'bald guys' but were 'monks' instead. All of them had bellsprouts for some reason, which really annoyed the hell out of me. Sure, the place is called Sprout Tower, but you don't need to take it so damn literally, you know? If I saw one more bellsprout, I was definitely going to smash it into the floorboards.

As I headed to the back, my sight was greeted with an old man paying attention to a big statue of, oh hey what do you know, a _**bellsprout**_. Ignoring the fact it annoyed me, I looked around and my eyes landed on the person near the far right of this floor. It was a person with almost unnatural red hair, black jacket, and purplish blue jeans.

Silver.

"Oh! Zoro! Emo isle, ho! We found him! Oh Silver~!" I called out happily, waving one arm through the air while the other held onto my egg.

I saw him physically flinch at the sound of my voice, him muttering "fuck" following that action as I walked up to him.

"Oh, it's so wonderful to see you again, Silver!" I said to him as I ran my arm through his. "How are you?"

Silver snatched his arm out of my hold and turned to face me with a glare. "Piss off." He snapped.

"Aren't you in a lovely mood today." I retorted, smiling innocently. "So how have you been? Long time no see, dear."

"You saw me yesterday." He pointed out.

"Yes, and I missed you _ever_ so much."

His disgusted grimace showed he obviously didn't feel the same way.

Kai, who was standing near my feet, gave some blubbering noise as he ran toward Silver. My red haired friend jumped back, a green pokemon with a leaf on top of its head running in front of him as he did so to greet my water pokemon with a smile.

"Oh, if it isn't Silver's stolen pokemon. How cute does it look Zoro~? It mo see Kai again!"

"Chikorita! How'd you even get out of your pokeball!" Silver shouted.

"HEY, don't be yelling at your pokemon." I snapped. "Especially if it's a girl."

"Oh, it's a girl alright. How else would you explain Kai's blushy grin~?" Zoro chimed mockingly with a mischievous grin.

Kai flinched at Zoro's words and yelled something in pokemon talk, his usually blue cheeks a bright red like the spikes on his back.

"Oh really now, Kai~…"

"Ohoho, girl indeed…" I mused, picking said pokemon up and holding her in front of me. "So, Chikorita, do you like Silver?"

She gave a happy nod without a hint of hesitation.

"Well, that's great! I like the guy too!" I agreed, giving an evil grin that made him flinch afterwards. "Which is why I'm going to do… This!"

As I said that last word, I shoved Silver backwards by his face that resulted in him tumbling clumsily to the floor. He sputtered, looking up at me to give me a look that was practically screaming 'what the hell was that for?', but I disregarded it completely. What I did instead was give him a sly grin and spin on my heels toward the way I had come.

"I think I'll steal your stolen pokemon, you big fat stealer!" I mocked, running of with Silver's Chikorita still in my arms.

"What? _GET BACK HERE AND GIVE ME BACK MY POKEMON_!" I heard Silver roar from behind me as he chased after.

You know, remembering how Silver and I first met and what I did to him, I didn't really think said redhead was strong. Unfortunately for me, he may've needed to work on his upper body strength, but he was one hell of a runner. And I mean one real hell of a runner. There were a few times he almost had me, but a bite from Zoro was more than enough to get him to let go of my jacket.

No matter where I ran, he managed to match me. If this was a different situation, I probably would've commended him.

It wasn't until I finally got tired and, coincidentally, stopped in front of Violet City's gym.

I slid to the ground once my back touched the wall of the gym, breathing heavy. "Shit, Silver, why didn't you… Hah…_ TELL_ me you were a fast runner?" I complained in between breaths.

Silver, who currently had one hand on the wall as he stood beside me to make sure he didn't fall over, glared down at me angrily. "Give me… My damn… Pokemon back…" he ordered, his breathing just as labored as mine.

I snorted as I looked to the side where Kai and Silver's Chikorita were currently talking, Zoro and my other pokemon teasing mockingly from a distance.

"I take it you like her?" I asked.

"Speaking of that, I should be demanding why you gave me the girly pokemon." He snapped.

"Uh, because I felt like it. Plus, you should feel happy since I was kind enough to give you the type advantage. We're rivals, thus we're going to be fighting sooner or later."

Silver folded his arms and tightened his gaze at me. "Why did you even help me?"

I shrugged lazily as I pushed myself to me feet and hopped to completely face him. "Let's just say I can relate to being stereotyped, Silver dear. Anyway, are you taking the Pokemon League challenge thing?" I replied.

"Of course I am."

"Awesome! You gonna challenge this gym, oh rival of mine~?"

"I already did earlier today, moron."

"Aw, really? I was looking forward to seeing you battle…"

He scoffed at me as he pulled a pokeball out of his jacket's pocket and held it out, a red light hitting his Chikorita and causing her to return, much to Kai's disappointment. Shooting me another one of his signature glares, he turned and started walking away without so much as a goodbye.

"Oh? Leaving so soon? Love you, Silver~!" I called after him.

Silver stopped to look back at me, gritting his teeth in irritation. "Yea, well, I _**hate**_ you! I don't like you! I hope you get mauled by an Ursaring!" he roared before strutting off moodily.

"Told ya he hated you." Zoro said as he hopped onto my shoulder.

I laughed and gave a grin. "I think he'll come around, Zoro. Everyone does eventually. Now, onto that gym battle, right?"

With a simultaneous nod from my pokemon, I pushed open the doors to the gym and my first gym leader— except the first thing I was greeted with was a girl no older than myself rushing past in a fit of tears and holding a bloody pokemon in her arms. Startled, I jumped out of the way to watch her rundown the road, probably toward the pokemon center. I turned back around and walked into the gym, only for my facial expression to grow apathetic.

How Arceus enjoyed playing around with me.

I didn't see a thing except a huge bare floor, some chubby guy with sunglasses, and two statues of Mew.

"What the hell? Where's the gym leader?" I thought out loud, catching the chubby man's attention.

"Ah, you're here to challenge the gym leader? That was quick. A challenger just left, you know…"

"I noticed. Take me to him, if you would."

Apparently he noticed the sarcasm in my voice because I saw him scowl and mutter something about 'another disrespectful one' before walking and motioning me to follow him.

I followed after him, my team close on my heels. "So this gym leader… What type is he specializing in? All gym leaders do that, right?" I questioned, hugging my egg tightly.

"Flying types. Though, I have to tell you, you picked th worst day to come and challenge Falkner." He replied, stopping on a space on the floor that was a tan color rather than the darker brown.

"Why is that?" I stumbled a little as the floor under us suddenly lurched toward the ceiling, and I looked down over the edge. Okay, sure, he has flying types. That's great. But did the guy _REALLY_ have to take it so literal to the point you have to go to the rooftop to just get a battle?

"Earlier today, a challenger came and challenged Falkner to a gym battle. Because of league rules, he accepted, but… The challenger was merciless. His pokemon slaughtered Falkner's beloved Skarmory that was originally his late father's without a hint of regret… All it is now is a puddle of liquid metal and blood on his floor… The bad thing is that challengers keep on coming today, so he can't even…"

"Collect the pieces and give a proper burial." I finished for him as the platform we were standing on stopped and he nudged me and my pokemon forward. "Anyway, I'm going to go challenge him now."

"Good luck, I suppose."

"Don't need it."

Atleast not in the state he's in.

I walked forward until I was probably just seven feet away from a man clad in blue. His back was turned to me and I leaned to the right a bit to see why he wasn't paying attention to me, and I finally saw what that man had meant. There was a pool of metal that shined against the sunlight shining in from some of the windows, and a couple puddles of red were in it here and there to make it look like some sort of cannibal soup with quite a bit of 'iron' in it. I looked down at the horrified looks of my pokemon before returning them one by one until only Venom and Zoro, who were both on my shoulders, were left. Wow, first gym and my pokemon are already scared out of their wits for the thought of dying. Simply peachy. As if Eric's little story wasn't bad enough.

"Hey, I came to challenge you, gym leader." I called out, resting a hand on my hip slowly.

Said leader whirled around quickly at the sound of my voice, angry tears threatening to spill from his baby blue eyes. Taking in the features of his face, Zoro and I physically flinched while our faces paled.

'_Shit! It's the policeman from New Bark!_' I shrieked in my head. _'I definitely can't use Kai now!'_

"Another challenger?" Falkner hissed, his eyes burning with anger and irritation. "What, did New Bark give everyone a starter yesterday to come gang up on me this evening?" He paused, looking over me. "Oh. You're that girl…"

I was silent for a while, sticking my lower lip out as if pretending to try and rationally process what he had said to me. Yea, well, talking to me in such a tone doesn't work out, buddy. Talking bad to me before worked because you were a policeman at the time, but now that I know you're a gym leader and I can legally kick your ass, it's on.

"That's right, I'm another challenger. _And_ I'm battling you with Venom. Deal with it." I told him, nodding my head to the bug type pokemon resting on one of my shoulders.

The blunette gym leader raised a brow at me, giving me a confused stare. "For apparently not being a delinquent, you must've skipped trainer school quite a bit. Bug types, especially against flying types, are—" he began.

"At a type disadvantage, whatever, yeah, I know." I interjected, waving a hand. I was getting impatient with all this talking. Time for the 'piss him off' approach, apparently. "I'm choosing him in order how pathetic you're being right now. You're a gym leader, aren't you? Show me what you got, Mister Supposed Leader!"

At my defiant tone, Falkner took a step forward before throwing a pokeball into the air. Looks like my special skill never fails to not work for me.

When the ball opened, a large Pidgeotto materialized in a flash of red in front of us, practically pinning us down with a glare as dark as its master.

Venom shuffled on my shoulder uncomfortably, staring at me with his big black eyes as if asking me if I was really going to go through with this.

I gave him a reassuring nod and patted his head a bit. "I'm not going to let you get hurt. Just listen to what I say and we'll win. I think." I muttered to him before picking him off my shoulder and setting him on the ground.

"Because 'I think' is always reassuring." Zoro agreed sarcastically from my shoulder, which I didn't bothering answering right now.

"I'm drained of mercy today, Miss. Pidgeotto, use tackle!" Falkner ordered, waving a hand.

The large bird pokemon launched itself forward in an instant, hitting Venom head on before I could even give a command and grabbing my pokemon as it flew up into the air. I could see him squirming in Pidgeotto's claws from where I stood, writhing in hopes to get out.

'_Jeez, the first attack? Is that really necessary?'_ "Poison needle now that you're close!" I shouted. "Hit him while you're below!"

My Spinarak did as commanded, turning his head— sweet Arceus above, now that I was looking at it, that was kind of creepy. Shouldn't only Noctowls do that? — before sending thick purple needles filled with deadly poison flying out of his mouth and stabbing the underside of Falkner's pokemon. Said captor screeched at the sudden pain, dropping Venom back to the floor before flying back to its previous position.

"What now?" Zoro questioned from my shoulder. "You can switch out while ya still can."

I shook my head to decline. Jeez, Zoro, you're not helping… Besides, there was no way I was taking the easy way out of this just to win. This stuck up crybaby gym leader wouldn't learn if I didn't beat him this way, I'm pretty sure.

"Wing attack!"

The bird pokemon lunged forward, one wing more outstretched than the other as it neared my pokemon. I opened my mouth to tell him to dodge, but he had already done it. Just in time, actually, causing the attack to miss him by just a few inches and smash the wooden floor which made splinters fly into the air. I watched in surprise, shielding my eyes from said wooden pieces. SHIT, my first gym battle and I got a rampaging crying gym leader on my hands that acts like the Incredible Sawk when he's pissed.

My pale eyes scanned around quickly. Jeez, how did _**Silver**_ even seem like he head defeated Falkner so easily when HE had the grass type? My gaze flicked over to the side, eyes narrowing at some razor sharp leaves that were lodged in the walls. Razor Leaf, I'm guessing?

'_That might do it…'_ I mused, looking back over at Venom who was hissing at his current opponent. "Okay, let's try a stringshot!" I shouted, pointing a finger to the side like how those people in those staged battles on television usually did. Venom started to spit out white sticky string from side to side, the base of all the strings being positioned right under him.

Falkner gave a sigh at this—It was almost a pity sigh, actually—, sweatdropping a little at what Venom was doing. "Maybe you should just go back to New Bark. This isn't a party, no streamers are needed."

I ignored his insult, watching intently even as his Pidgeotto gave an incredulous look at us before glancing back at his master. The bird squawked, then lifted itself into the air as it short toward Venom. I actually ended up wincing. Oh jeez, what am I doing, I just hope this works…!

Then, something seemed to click in that blue head of his. "Stop!"

He said it just in time, making that flying type pokemon screech to a stop just in front of Venom. I blinked rapidly, holding one arm in front of me as if preparing to get someone thrown at me.

"…Hmph. I guess you won." Falkner admitted, folding his arms.

"…I'm confused." Zoro mumbled from my shoulder. "VENOM'S RIGHT THERE!"

"If Pidgeotto moved anymore… The poison that was injected into his body and was already hurting him would've put him in a fatal condition." The gym leader explained as he walked up.

"Wow, you're more blind-sighted by your metal bird dying more than I thought."

Aaaand there goes me thinking out loud again. Nice move, now you have to go with it, Ashurii.

"…What?"

I turned my head to one of the walls Venom's thread had been shot at, pointing to one of the leaf's still stuck there. "Those are from Razor Leaf, right? From your previous battle, I'm guessing. Because you were too busy grieving over your pokemon even after you lost, you left them there. Grass isn't good against flying, but from the state your little birdie was in at that moment, coming in contact with the string shots Venom had made in front of him would've caused the leaves to be dislodged. And with six of those sharp things hitting your already injured pokemon at the same exact time, he probably would've died." I elaborated.

Silence…

"…Where did my Ashurii go." Zoro said in monotone from after a few seconds, his eyelids dropping in apathy.

"What— hey, don't give me that! I can be smart! Besides, I just remembered this off of a TV show that had the same thing happen in it!"

"You won with a TV trick? That's just lazy! _**You're**_ lazy!"

"Oh, shut up, I didn't feel like thinking that much!"

"I'm sure Nii-chan would've tried harder than you did!"

"Don't bring into this, you know he's—"

"Sweet mother of great Arceus above, just take the badge and leave, both of you." Falkner jumped in, shoving a cool piece of metal into my hand.

Zoro and I gave a simultaneous pout at him, but that look didn't stay too long before I finally decided to shrug it off and return Venom, spinning on my heels to face the way I had came. I took one step forward before stopping again and glancing back at the policeman/gym leader, ignoring the scowl _**he**_ had on his face.

"…Hey, this person that killed your Skarmory… Did he have red hair?" I asked in a quiet voice.

Falkner shook his head, his scowl fading and being replaced with a forlorn look. "No… It was jet black… As black as the color comes."

So it wasn't Silver that killed his bird… That's good. Sucking in a breath as if regaining all my usual confidence, I beamed back at Falkner and raised a hand to imitate a salute. "Okay! Anyway, I'mma tell your glasses guy down there to lock the gym up for today so you can deal with your Skarmory! If you fight in the state you're in, you'll kill another and I'm pretty sure you don't want your gym leader title revoked, yeah? You had no rational reason and whatnot, you know. Until another day, Officer Falkner!"

With that, I hopped onto the platform to go back down to the main floor, skipping like some silly little kid all the way out the gym. Can't wait to rub it in Eric's face that I won next time I see him. I definitely wasn't going to end up like him. There was no way I was going to let them die, no way.

Or maybe that's just my wishful thinking.

* * *

><p>Xxxxxxxxxxx<p>

_(I'm… So terribly sorry. That CCS story took so long to do and my brain died, but no worries! I'm slowly regaining my thoughts for this, so I'm back to working on this! Fun fact, actually, I also beat Falkner's gym with just a spinarak. Ovo)_


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